Farwest Corrosion News

One of the most illustrious warships in the history of United States Navy has been preserved for the future with a Cathelco Ltd. hull corrosion protection system. The USS Missouri served in some of the most famous naval conflicts of the 20th century and is best known as the site of Japan’s surrender in 1945 which ended World War II. After war time service in the South Pacific, Korea and more recently providing fire support during Operation Desert Storm in the Persian Gulf, the warship was decommissioned and donated to the USS Missouri Memorial Association in 1998.

Farwest Corrosion Control Company (Farwest) has been a leading provider of cathodic protection and corrosion solutions to North America’s oil companies, gas companies, power companies, water districts and utilities since 1956. Operating eight branch locations, Farwest provides its clients with the world-class materials, engineering and installation services for complete cathodic protection, applied with integrity, service and quality.

Troy Rankin, president of Farwest. “I’ve been working here at the company for 33 years full time, and our business model is simply to provide cathodic protection and corrosion preventative equipment and solutions to a number of different industries. Mostly, our work is aimed at protecting underground and underwater metallic structures for the oil and gas industry, as well as water and waste water and energy clients.”

Problems with gasket and flange isolation material failures appear to be more far reaching than many users realize. A number of companies have experienced gasket failures at rates not seen since the change from flat flange isolation gaskets to pressure energized gaskets. The reasons for these failures are still being studied. This article presents the findings from evaluations of four recent failures of self-energizing gaskets. In each case, alternative “equivalents” were substituted for the specified PSI Line Backer† gaskets. Sleeve and washer failures are discussed also.

The gasket in Figure 1 appears to have a seamless, molded sealing element with inconsistent quality control of the volume- to-void relationship. The groove depth for the sealing element also exhibits unacceptable variances.

Using Combat Skills to Fight Corrosion; NACE Foundation Helps Put Veterans Back to Work

At age 24, Anthony Bartlett’s military service was nearing its end and he found himself considering his next steps. In the U.S. Army Bartlett worked in satellite communications, providing Internet and phone capability to Army users; he was a network person in a tactical setting and served in Korea, Afghanistan, and finally at Fort Lewis in Washington. At Fort Lewis he learned about the NACE Foundation Workforce Development Program through the USA Cares veteran assistance program, a NACE Foundation partner.

Bartlett knew nothing about corrosion or that there is an entire industry of professionals dedicated to corrosion control, but the NACE Foundation introduced him to occupations in the field of corrosion control and ways he could translate his military skills into a new career. “The program seemed well catered to people in the military with backgrounds like mine, it’s a good transition,” says Bartlett.

Often customers ask to have a sacrificial magnesium anode cathodic protection (CP) system designed for their new pipeline system. In many cases, however, the customer does not understand the many complexities that can profoundly affect the design and long-term operation of the CP system. Mistakenly, they think that the application of a few magnesium anodes along the length of the pipeline will offer sufficient protection but unfortunately, this is usually not the case.

In designing any CP system for a buried pipeline, there are a number of factors that must be considered. These factors are even more critical when considering a sacrificial anode system, which cannot be adjusted to provide additional CP if needed. Therefore, a robust design approach and careful installation techniques are a must if the CP system is to provide the expected results. Otherwise, the integrity of the pipeline may be at stake for a number of reasons described later. Full article from World Pipeline.

Tapeit Up - Proper installation of a Pipe Wrap and Tapeby Jim Tolly, Farwest Corrosion Control Company. North American Oil & Gas Pipeline Magazine, January 2012

During summer 2011, Farwest Corrosion Control supplied a fi eld-applied tape coating system for a pipeline relocation project in Southern California. While not involved in assisting with the coating specifi cation, Farwest has long-standing relationships with the contractor and the pipeline owner.

Two new 12-in. pipelines were built. The fi ttings and some of the girth welds were fi eld-coated with Amcorr Viscotaq Coat Wrap ST for corrosion protection and then followed with Polyken tape for mechanical protection. Visco-Elastic tapes aren't new to the market, but it's within the past few years that their popularity and use have started to rise.

The impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) system protecting an aging offshore oil drilling platform located off the coast of Southern California was experiencing anode failure, and some submerged areas of the steel platform structures were not being fully protected against corrosion.

To address the problem, an anode sled was custom designed and installed near the platform on the sea floor, which successfully upgraded the ICCP system to provide full protection of the underwater support structures and portions of the pipelines that transfer product from the platform to the shore.

Setting the Record Straight on Pipeline Protectionby Bob Buchanan and Scott Smith, Canusa-CPS. North American Pipeline Magazine, August 2011

P ipeline integrity is a hot topic these days, and there are obviously a number of factors that impact integrity. There are also a number of viewpoints, with some being louder than others, so it's often diffi cult to make the distinction between fact and fi ction. As the famous physics professor Dr. Feynman once said, "For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled."

One aspect of the above is "cathodic shielding" of pipeline coatings and some misconceptions being propagated regarding the use of high dielectric strength coatings in relationship to cathodic shielding, NACE Standards and U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations.

In the pipeline industry, a common method used to install a section of new pipe is via a directional drill. This is done when it is either impractical or impossible to dig an open trench, such as under a highway, body of water, railroad, environmentally sensitive area, or in a heavily congested residential or commercial area. Directional drilling technology has improved to the point that this method of pipeline installation is now regularly, safely, and effectively undertaken worldwide.

The basic process consists of drilling a pilot hole, reaming it a number of times to the appropriate size, attaching the new pipeline to the end of the drill pipe, and pulling the new section of pipe back through the bore. However, in the same way that all construction projects encounter unexpected surprises, directional drilling projects seem to encounter more than their fair share.

Pipelines routes that cross highways, bodies of water or railroads can require a directional bore. Pipelines pulled through a directional-drill bore are subject to stresses that can easily damage or destroy their protective coatings. Rock, shale and gravel can cut through or abrade coatings all the way to the pipe surface. Girth-weld coatings are sometimes viewed as the weak link in pipeline coating chain. In the application described, the successful solution was a was a three-layer polypropylene system that was plant-applied on the casings.

A new concept developed by engineers at Farwest Corrosion Control Co. and designed particularly for steel water tank applications, uses a small percentage of the energy generated by magnesium anodes to power an electronic controller that automatically regulates the tank-to-water voltage potential in a galvanic cathodic protection (CP) system. The controller, which requires no external power or batteries, automatically adjusts the anode current to maintain a constant IR free tank-to-water potential.

Farwest Corrosion Control Company is proud to introduce the first and only cathodic protection control system that automatically provides a constant, IR-Free potential for internal steel water reservoir surfaces using magnesium anodes.

The POWERMAG 1000 (U.S. Patent 7585397) requires no external power or batteries, yet provides controlled and regulated cathodic protection current for internal surfaces of steel reservoirs by using sacrificial, magnesium anodes. Costs are reduced while optimizing cathodic protection levels. Shipping at the end of March 2010.

An Industry First by Farwest: Three-Year Cathodic Protection Rectifier Warranty

Farwest Corrosion Control Company (Gardena, California) is pleased to announce an industry first with their new THREE-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY for every C.P. rectifier sold after January 1, 2009. Farwest will fix or replace any defective rectifier made by Universal Rectifiers within this new warranty period, which is three times longer than any other in the corrosion industry. This extended warranty period will be of benefit to anyone considering the purchase of C.P. rectifiers. The warranty details are contained in a downloadable warranty certificate.

The NACE Founders Award was created to recognize exceptional contributions by individuals who have significantly enhanced the stature of the NACE Foundation and have made significant contributions toward its goal of advancing corrosion education. The award recognizes a group of individuals - theoriginal members of the Endowment Committee, established in 1986, that eventually evolved into the NACE Foundation as we know it today:

Walter K. Boyd*

Douglas D. Downing*

A. C. "Scotty" Flory

Ernest W. Haycock*

T. Gordon Rankin

Phil F. Sauereisen*

Arthur C. Toncre

Ellis D. Verink, Jr.

Harold A. Webster*

Three other members of the original founding group have previously been recognized with this award: Walter B. Poff in 2008, *Stanley Lopata in 2006 and *Darrel D. Byerley, who had the distinct honor of being the first recipient of the award in 2005.

The NACE Foundation is grateful to this dedicated group of individuals whose vision, financial support and continued efforts have resulted in a one of a kind organization dedicated to promoting knowledge of corrosion science and engineering to our industry's next generation.